I bless and curse the HTTYD social media team for this idea. Note, the hidden world will never be canon to me, therefore, this story isn't canon, but enjoy your ride on the angst train. Word count:2.9K
It's been 6 years since your arrival on Berk, and many things have changed drastically. You and Hiccup have grown up to be competent and capable young adults. Stoick had tragically passed away and Hiccup was now the chief of Berk, Toothless the alpha to all dragons as well.
But most importantly, the bond between you and Eclipse has never been so strong. He was your best friend, he was loyal to you until the end.
Since Hiccup became chief, Berk had started to become overpopulated and overcrowded with your rescued dragons. It was a problem, yes but you two were still doing what you loved. One evening, you were up by the cliff as Hiccup had his map folded out, and he told you a story that Stoick had told him when he was younger, about a hidden world where all the dragons lived out of reach. Suggesting that you both could find it and help move Berk there.
"Abandon our home ?? The home your father left to protect..." You swallowed the grief at that last part. It's been a year and it still hurts.
In the midst of the conversation, Toothless's ears perked up, he shuffled to the edge of the cliff to listen better.
"You ok, bud ??" Hiccup raised an eyebrow. Toothless leapt off the cliff, heading into the woods below. "He must've picked up something."
You and Hiccup tried to catch up with him, and the sun was fully setting, which would make it harder to spot him. What was with this crazy dragon ??
Toothless continued to follow the noise he had been hearing, reaching the middle of the woods, where a shape sparkled in the moonlight. It slowly raised it's head to inspect him, it showed feline features, a female dragon.
The dragon suddenly picked up a noise of a stick snapping, jolting her head in the direction to reveal you and Hiccup emerging from the bushes.
"Oh my gods..." Hiccup's eyes widened, seeing the dragon.
"Hiccup !!" You pushed him out of the way as the dragon shot a fireball at you two. Spooked, the dragon lunged into the air, shooting another fireball and seemingly disappearing.
"Wow... Another night fury ??" You stood up, dusting yourself off as you helped Hiccup up.
"No, not quite. It's more like a..." Hiccup tried to think of a name.
"A bright... Fury... A light fury" You suggested.
"Yeah, yours is better. Probably" Hiccup nodded.
Toothless sat on top of the tree, staring into the sky, crestfallen. Little did you know, meeting her would kick off a chain of events...
It started small, you were out in the woods again with Eclipse and Tuffnut who was talking about Hiccup and Astrid getting married. You've gotten pretty good at tuning out his nonsense sometimes. As you walked further a glimmer in the ground caught your eye, upon closer inspection you found a discarded dart, a small drip of green liquid fell from the end. Realising what it was, you looked to see eclipse sniffing the ground.
"Eclipse... Don't move" You raised your hand gently, not wanting to spook him.
You noticed an undisturbed patch of grass in the middle, which wasn't right. You reached for Tuffnut's walking stick and tossed it into the grass. CLANG !! A trap hidden in the grass triggered closed, obliterating the stick. You fell back in shock, looking around. "Someone's here..."
Heading back, you told the others about what you had found, to which Eret, son of Eret told you that the trap was placed by Grimmel the Grisly, one of the smartest dragon trappers.
Can't be that smart, he left his trap unmanned." Hiccup reasoned.
"Nothing's accidental when it comes to him, he lives for the hunt. To get inside the mind of his prey, to control its every choice. It's all a game to him"
You looked at Eclipse and Toothless, who was staring at the sky, lovesick.
"Y/n, chief, don't underestimate him. Mark my words, he will be back" Eret reaffirmed.
Nightfall came, and the village quieted down. You were back in your hut with Eclipse sleeping peacefully in the corner. Sitting by the fire, where maps you drew with Hiccup lay. You dusted off the book and began to read.
"Alright, come on, give us a clue here. Give us a clue, Stoick..." You muttered.
Looking up, seeing Eclipse snoring softly. You heard a creak of the floorboard, quickly turning to the door, which remained closed. You sighed and looked back at the book before your ears picked up on the noise of water pouring into a cup. You quickly jumped and grabbed your sword, lighting it up to illuminate a figure standing by.
"Oh, I hope you don't mind if I help myself ?? This is impressive" The man looked at the sword. "Let me finish my drink" He scoffed, removing his mask to take a sip.
Eclipse stirred at the noise. In response, the man quickly fired a dart at him, knocking him out with a yelp.
"Eclipse !!" You rushed over, inspecting the dart. "What did you do to him !?"
"Nothing that he won't sleep off" He shrugged nonchalantly. Sitting in your chair.
"Oh gods, where are my manners ??" He smirked. "Well, your former chief knew of me. Now there was a chief, one of the greatest dragon hunters that ever lived" He reminisced like Stoick was an old friend before cringing. "What would he think of his son now ??" He mocked Hiccup by feigning the hiccups.
"He had it right, you know. Making it his mission to destroy the beasts so you could grow in a better world"
"He changed his mind" You defended.
"And look where that got him" He said it with such venom, you gripped your sword tighter.
Grimmel rose from the chair and chuckled, pushing your sword. Strutting to Eclipse.
“You wish dragons to live free, among us, like equals ?? A toxic notion, my child. History has shown that we are the superior species. What if word of your misguided ideas were to spread ??." He neared Eclipse, growing suspicious. "It would be the undoing of civilisation as... we.. know..." He then kicked Eclipse, his head rolled off to reveal Fishlegs in disguise.
"Did we get him ??" He said groggily.
You think fast and knock his crossbow out of his hand. "NOW !!"
Suddenly, the others rushed out of hiding, leaping from the loft above and bursting through the door.
"Sorry to barge in" Gobber apologised for destroying your door.
"You think you can come into my home, mock my very chief, and threaten my dragon ?!" You held your sword up. "This is Berk. And we have defended it from far worse than you" You glared at him.
"Ooh, a fighting spirit, I love it" He smiled menacingly. "I'm afraid your mistaken, you haven't seen anything like me" He whistled, summoning his deathgrippers, they released pincers that tore through the roof above, knocking Astrid off.
"Astrid, look out !!" You called out.
The deathgripper lunged forward, aiming its poisonous stinger straight to you.
"Look out, y/n !! Get clear !!" Valka pulled you out.
Flaming acid rained down on the building, dissolving everything on contact. Grimmel got his crossbow and took the chance to escape.
"Run !!" Gobber got the others out of harm's way as the building collapsed, nearly crushing everyone.
"Have those night furies ready when I return !! Or I will destroy everything you love" Grimmel called out.
You looked around through the smoke and embers, seeing shapes take flight. You exchanged a scared glance with Hiccup, this was only a warning.
A meeting was called, and it came to the conclusion that Berk was a sitting duck for Grimmel, so with a heavy heart, you packed your things and left home to go find the hidden world. After an uncomfortable time of flying, you were greeted by the light fury as she knocked Hiccup off Toothless. You landed on a deserted island to camp for the time being, but everyone took the opportunity to start building a whole new village. Vikings were strange sometimes.
The next morning, Hiccup allowed you to sleep in, knowing how tired you were from the trip. You woke up with a fright as Gobber screamed. He was helping Hiccup test something, rushing to inspect, when you found Gobber covered in ember and soot.
"Well, I guess you know the tail is fireproof" He sighed, having had enough of this.
Hiccup began to fit the prosthetic tail onto him, but Toothless was so excited he couldn't sit still.
"What's this ??" You inspected the tail.
“Well, that light fury won't let me within a mile of her. And neither of us will be getting any sleep or finding the hidden world until Toothless leads..." He almost got slapped in the face. "Please, this is not helping"
Once he finally got it on, Toothless tested it out. Spreading his tail fin and it mirrored the exact movement.
"Bring her home by sundown at the latest" Hiccup playfully mimicked Stoick's accent. Toothless happily licked and hugged him as thanks. "Hey, save it for your girlfriend" He chuckled.
An idea popped into your head, and you went to find Eclipse, who was happily finishing his breakfast.
"Hey, can you go with Toothless ?? Keep him company ??... Well, mainly make sure he doesn't make a fool of himself" You chuckled, being met with a lick on your face as well. "Ew, fish breath !!" You laughed softly, Eclipse smiled and gave you a nuzzle before heading off with toothless, flying high in the sky.
That night, Berk celebrated a milestone as they got most of the buildings upright. Things were starting to take shape, but you were outside staring into the night sky with worry. Eclipse hasn't come back, and neither has Toothless. What if Toothless' tail broke ?? What if Grimmel got them ?? What if... Eclipse needed you.
"Would you relax ??" Gobber came out and patted you on the back. "They're probably out having the best time of their lives, clips is probably laughing seeing him fustered"
You tried to smile at that, but the worry was still there. You looked up and saw Valka and Cloudjumper fly in, you noticed Eclipse was also in tow.
"Eclipse !!" You smiled and rushed to him, oh thank gods he was ok, you gently scratched behind his ear before noticing Toothless nor the light fury were there.
You looked over and noticed Valka a little shaken.
"Valka, are you ok ?? What happened ??" Moving to her side.
"I don't know how, but Grimmel is tracking us. We need to find Hiccup" She said with urgency.
Once advised about what she saw, Hiccup devised a plan to ambush his ships. Suiting up, they headed to the location where Cloudjumper found them. The group split up so they couldn't get caught, but it didn't last as Fishmeat, the baby gronckle that sits in Fishleg's pouch, stirred and cried.
A match lit a lantern and there stood Grimmel.
"Where's your dragon when you need him, hmm, chief ?? Must've forgotten all about you"
The others came out of hiding. You eyed the deathgrippers as you looked around the room, trying to find an escape route.
"First rule of the hunt, separate the prey from the pack. You've just removed yourselves from the equation"
"Why are you doing this ??" Hiccup asked calmly.
"Really ?? I didn't think you cared" Grimmel said with contempt. "Well, unlike you, when I was a boy, I stumbled upon a night fury, killed it where it slept. That simple act of courage made me a hero of my village. So I decided to kill every last one, bringing real peace to the people of this world"
Your heart sank at the statement. He was the sole reason that the night furies were near extinct.
"Until you came along, preaching that dragons are something other than thieves and murderers. That nonsense dies now with both of you" He glared at both of you and Hiccup.
"But you have dragons of your own" You nodded to the deathgrippers.
"These ?? They're dragon killers, drugged into obedience with their own venom. Not even your precious alpha can control them, they serve me... And only me"
With a whistle, the deathgrippers opened fire. Spraying acid in every direction, you hightailed out of the room as soon as it caught up in flames. It was a close call, but everyone managed to make it back to the island... Except Ruffnut was now missing.
Hiccup tried to calm everyone down. "Ok, guys, just keep your helmets on. Toothless and I will fly..."
"Toothless has the light fury now, he's probably not even coming back" One viking said.
"What ??" Hiccup frowned... This couldn't be...
"You gave him his freedom, what were you expecting ??" Astrid tried to reason.
"I... I never thought he'd stay away" You saw so much confusion on his face. "I... I..." He couldn't form a sentence, he walked away to calm himself.
You could only stand there and watch, you've never seen him so torn in his life.
"He thinks he has to lead alone because his father had to" Valka said gently to you. "He doesn't realise the strength he has. Do you still believe in him ??"
"Of course..." You nodded, staring at the ground.
"Then help him realise the truth" She gently squeezed your shoulder.
Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath. "I'll try"
You jumped onto Eclipse's back and headed over to him, Hiccup felt a gentle nuzzle in his hand and was greeted by a gummy smile.
"Get on, we're going to find him" You nodded to the saddle.
"Really ??" He looked at you before jumping on. "Everyone, stay put, we will get Ruffnut back, don't worry"
The sun rose as you flew over the ocean. Eclipse followed Toothless's scent to try and find him.
"Where is he heading ??" Hiccup looked out into the open.
"He's tracking something, aren't you ??" You smiled and gently rubbed his neck.
After what felt like forever, you began to fly to what looked like a waterfall... A very deep one, to be exact. Eclipse dived into the caldera and emerged through the curtain of water. Flying into the vast chamber beneath the ocean floor. The darkness gave way to an otherworldly glow as the river beneath threw patterns up the tunnel walls, emerging eventually into the hidden world. It was real... It was real !!
Avoiding detection from other dragons, you landed near where many seem to be gathering for something special. In the middle, you saw Toothless and the light fury land together gracefully, and the alpha let out a mighty roar. You and Hiccup witnessed the two engage in a strange but beautiful ritual. Your attention was broken when you saw the saddened look on Hiccup's face.
"We should go..." He mumbled before the two of you were startled by a very big dragon.
Another close call required Toothless to save you both, which, after dropping you both back to the Island. Grimmel seized his opportunity to capture the three furies. The battle with him was long and hard. But you managed to free the furies, you were happily reunited with Eclipse while he was still coming out of his comatose. "Hey, sleepy head" You smiled, to which he gave a soft rumble.
"You're right, bud... It's time" You heard hiccup, turning your head towards him. "I was so busy fighting for a world I wanted... I didn't think about what you needed... You've looked after us for long enough..."
That sentence made you frown, watching as everyone sadly removed their saddles from their dragons. "Hiccup... What are you doing ??" Your voice started to get caught in your throat.
He looked up at you with sadness in his eyes, but also a new understanding. "They have to make their choice... This world isn't ready for them. It may never be..."
Astrid saw the hesitancy in your eyes. She gently went to Eclipse and removed his saddle. "It's ok... We'll keep an eye on them" She said softly with a sad smile.
Eclipse made a soft noise as he gently nudged your hand. He was sad. But he wanted to go too...
Tears fell down your face as the denial hit you like a tidal wave. Your head was screaming at you to beg hiccup not to do this.
"Go toothless... Go..." Hiccup's voice shook as he gently pressed his hand on his snout one last time before moving back.
Toothless looked at Hiccup for the last time before roaring to the other dragons to follow him. You watched as all the dragons spread their wings and moved... Looking at Eclipse. "Don't..." You pleaded ever so quietly. Eclipse looked at you sadly before giving your hand one final nuzzle... a tiny goodbye, he spread his wings before joining Toothless.
Everyone was sad, but they were hopeful for them. One by one, they all headed back to restart building their lives. But you... You stayed by the cliff, you were alone again, like your first arrival on berk. You sat there in grief as if hoping this was all just a bad dream and you would either wake up or they'd come back. But the morning sun continued to rise... A new day.
Taglist: @callofdudes (Whenever you get the chance to read it)